page_title: PNC Park
section_title: Design and construction
hierarchical_section_title: PNC Park / History / Design and construction
caption_attribution_description: @PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA
context_page_description: PNC Park is a baseball park located on the North Shore of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the fifth home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the city's Major League Baseball franchise. It opened during the 2001 MLB season, after the controlled implosion of the Pirates' previous home, Three Rivers Stadium. PNC Park stands just east of its predecessor along the Allegheny River with a view of the Downtown Pittsburgh skyline. The ballpark is sponsored by PNC Financial Services, which purchased the naming rights in 1998. Constructed of steel and limestone, PNC Park features a natural grass playing surface and seats 38,747 people for baseball.
  Plans to build a new stadium for the Pirates originated in 1991, but did not come to fruition for five years. Funded in conjunction with Heinz Field and the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, the park was constructed for $216 million over a 24-month span, faster than most modern stadiums. Built in the "retro-classic" style modeled after past venues like Pittsburgh's Forbes Field, PNC Park also introduced unique features, such as the use of limestone in the building's facade.
context_section_description: Kansas City-based Populous (then HOK Sport), which designed many other major league ballparks of the late 20th and early 21st century, designed the ballpark. The design and construction management team consisted of the Dick Corporation and Barton Malow. An effort was made in the design of PNC Park to salute other "classic style" ballparks, such as Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, and Pittsburgh's Forbes Field; the design of the ballpark's archways, steel truss work, and light standards are results of this goal. PNC Park was the first two-deck ballpark to be built in the United States since Milwaukee County Stadium opened in 1953. The park features a 24 by 42 foot (7.3 by 12.8 m) Sony JumboTron, which is accompanied by the first-ever LED video boards in an outdoor MLB stadium. PNC Park is the first stadium to feature an out-of-town scoreboard with the score, inning, number of outs, and base runners for every other game being played around the league.
  Ground was broken for PNC Park on April 7, 1999, after a ceremony to christen the newly renamed Roberto Clemente Bridge. As part of original plans to create an enjoyable experience for fans, the bridge is closed to vehicular traffic on game days to allow spectators to park in Pittsburgh's Golden Triangle and walk across the bridge to the stadium. PNC Park was built with Kasota limestone shipped from a Minnesota river valley, to contrast the brick bases of other modern stadiums. The American-made raw steel for the ballpark was fabricated in Brownsville, Pennsylvania by Wilhelm and Krus. The stadium was constructed over a 24-month span—at the time of construction, three months faster than any other modern major league ballpark—and the Pirates played their first game less than two years after groundbreaking. The quick construction was accomplished with the use of special computers, which relayed building plans to builders 24 hours per day. In addition, all 23 labor unions involved in the construction signed a pact that they would not strike during the building process. As a result of union involvement and attention to safety regulations, the construction manager, the Dick Corporation, received a merit award for its safety practices from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
  Statues of Pirates' Hall of Famers Honus Wagner, Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell and Bill Mazeroski are positioned at various points outside of PNC Park. Wagner and Clemente's statues were previously located outside of Three Rivers Stadium, and after the venue was imploded, the two statues were removed from their locations, refurbished, and relocated outside PNC Park. Wagner's statue was originally unveiled at Forbes Field in 1955. The base of Clemente's statue is shaped like a baseball diamond, with dirt from three of the fields Clemente played at—Santurce Field in Carolina, Puerto Rico, Forbes Field, and Three Rivers Stadium—at each base. On October 1, 2000, after the final game at Three Rivers Stadium, Stargell threw out the ceremonial last pitch. He was presented with a model of a statue that was to be erected in his honor outside of PNC Park. The statue was officially unveiled on April 7, 2001; however, Stargell did not attend due to health problems and died of a stroke two days later. A statue for Bill Mazeroski was added at the right field entrance, at the south end of Mazeroski Way, during the 2010 season. This was the 50th anniversary of the Pirates' 1960 World Series championship, which Mazeroski clinched with a Game 7 walk-off home run at Forbes Field. The statue itself was designed based on that event.
caption: The limestone exterior of the park at the home plate entrance, with a statue of Honus Wagner
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